


A Commie and a Gogo Dancer Walk Into a Restaurant

by zemenipearls (ayaanle)



Series: 1970s AU [2]
Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: 1970s, Alternate Universe - 1970s, Disco, F/M, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23334598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayaanle/pseuds/zemenipearls
Summary: Adrik just met Leoni after her shift as a dancer in Studio 54. He's enamored, she's cautious, but he wins her over.
Relationships: Leoni Hilli/Adrik Zhabin
Series: 1970s AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678108
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	A Commie and a Gogo Dancer Walk Into a Restaurant

Nadia left with Tamar, so Jesper and Kuwei moved across from Leoni and the white boy. He seemed deeply uncomfortable but that was his own problem, Leoni thought. People paid good money begging her for private dances at the club. If he was going to act like this, he could deal.

Jesper's colorful makeup was smeared around his face from the dancing and Kuwei dabbed at it with his cloth. Leoni smiled, reaching over for one of Adrik's fries. What kind of name was Adrik?

"You need to leave?" She asked him, trying to be polite. Leoni was from Georgia and voted for the first time three years ago. She could deal with men like him.

But he shook his head, nursing his cola. So Leoni shrugged and continued talking to Jesper and Kuwei. It was a good tip day for her - the local softball league came in, so she paid for all their meals. Even the white guy, who tried to insist he could pay for himself. "Hush up hon," she chided, forking over ten single dollar bills. The waitress gave her a dirty look but she shrugged it off.

"Thank you," Adrik said. He seemed to chew on his words as they spilled out of the booth, so she turned and gave both Jesper and Kuwei tight hugs. "See y'all at skate night."

There was a gentle touch on her arm. "Are you calling a cab?"

"Nah I live close by. I'm gonna walk."

His face was somber. "That's not safe. May I walk you home?"

"You gonna kill me?"

His mouth fell open and now Leoni could see they had a nice shape - narrow but angular in the middle and slightly pursed. Freckles were carelessly splashed across his face and he was clean shaven - uncommon. He looked concerned. Genuinely concerned. "I hope you don't think that of me."

That took her by surprise. "Hmmm. Alright." 

She stuffed her hands into her pocket, glad for the warmth of the jacket. Adrik opened the diner door for her, and it was then that she realized why he shielded himself away. The sleeve of his denim jacket was pinned up. Leoni didn’t understand why he was so self-conscious. He was one of thousands of boys sent back home in pieces or with things missing. At least his compassion seemed intact.

So she turned her eyes forward instead - God knew people stared at her all the time. Her afro, her skin, her body. Whenever she walked into white spaces, she had to keep her chin high. She set off a quick pace, trying not to smile when he did a light jog to catch up, then fell in step beside her. 

“So you dance?” He asked.

“I do,” she said. “Pretty well, even.” It was what she liked to do - being physical. Dancing, roller skating, and pickup basketball games in Harlem. It was like she had too much energy all the time. But it did mean she slept until the afternoon, and she had to learn how to fight off anyone who tried to get grabby with her. A swift kick to the groin or punch to the noise usually did it. Just because she liked to move her hips and wear as little clothes as decently possible didn’t mean she was for physical consumption.

“I’ve got two left feet,” he admitted. “And one right arm.”

“As long as you know how to use it,” she shrugged. “Vietnam?” she asked. Since he was in her business, she could be in his.

He nodded, eyes downcast. “Drafted. Don’t think they want me anymore though. Maybe I’ll become a one-armed disco sensation,” he said with a dry tone.

Leoni couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her. This man was not what she expected. Maybe she imagined the small smile at her laugh. “We’ll call you White Tiger,” she said. “All the boys and girls will love you.”

“Do you love all the girls? Or boys?” He asked. Leoni was positive that there was a little hopeful note in his voice. 

He wasn’t going to get off that easy. So she just shrugged. “This is me,” she stopped at a brownstone. “Thanks for the walk,” she said.

“Anytime,” he replied. There was emphasis in his chest, and an earnestness in his eyes. Leoni thought he looked like someone had cobbled him together with features they thought would be interesting. Blonde hair, light green eyes, freckles. An eagle nose that was slightly too large for his otherwise delicate features. 

As she walked up the steps to unlock the outside door, he cleared his throat. “Could I take you to dinner sometime?” 

Leoni made a show of putting a finger to her cheek and looking him up and down, head cocked. “I think you could,” she said. 

She walked back down the steps to get his phone number. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek. After all, she had already kissed his sister that night. What was one more to give away?

At the skate rink the next day, she stretched, Jesper practicing skating backwards in front of her. “Hey big booty cutie,” he said. Jesper was her best friend and confidante. His side of the family moved North during the Great Migration, while her side had stayed behind. But she was ready to try that big city life, after seeing the way her parents broke their backs being sharecroppers. “What’s up?”

“Tired as all hell,” she answered honestly. “Hey Jes. Your daddy’s white right?”

“Yepp,” Jesper replied. Other than his eyes, you wouldn’t really be able to tell. He would fail the door test too, just not as badly as she would. “Why you asking?”

Leoni began to skate around the rink, rolling her eyes as Jesper joined her backwards. Show off. This time she had on bell bottom jeans, and a long sleeve tie-front crop top. It was her favorite style of shirt, and made up 80% of her wardrobe. “Dunno. Was it hard for them?”

“Well, yeah. Mostly cause they ain’t ever expect my dad to marry my mom. Irish people are fucking crazy,” he laughed. “Like they didn’t live a borough away from each other yaknow?” Jesper’s afro had a looser texture - pencil sized corkscrew curls that went every which way, and his sideburns nearly connected with the beard and moustache he had. It was no surprise everyone looked twice at the tall, silver-eyed man. But only Kuwei got to actually be with him.

“Is this about that boy from the diner who looked like he had a stick up his ass?” Jesper asked. 

“Boy shut up. His name is Adrik. He’s actually kind of nice.”

She let her body sway and dip to the beat, the music smooth and lovely. It always put her in a trance. 

“Kind of nice or kind of curious? You know they’re always trolling the neighborhood for a taste and then marry the next nice white girl they meet.”

Jesper had a point. You heard about it all the time. She saw it at the club too. That’s why she never entertained people she met there. They could look at her and give her money but she wouldn’t answer some weird fetish they had. Which was why it was so surprising she was here - entertaining the idea of calling back this man.

They practiced their synchronized dances on the skates, laughing in the midst of others in the black community, and making plans to attend one of the ball parties later in the week. Jesper occasionally competed as a butch queen, when he was in the mood. But they weren’t too serious about it - the gogo dancing was their main event.

But Jesper seemed to love and trust his dad - all his stories about his parents were wonderful. And they got together in the 40s when it was real bad news for everyone, even in New York. Miscegenation wasn’t illegal - but Leoni couldn’t imagine it was easy. In Georgia his daddy might have been swinging from a tree. So Leoni had never entertained the idea before. But, this was New York. 

Adrik was elated when he picked up the phone, and she said she wanted to go out. He picked her up in a pretty Cadillac, opening the door for her. “A gentleman,” she commented. Her afro squashed unceremoniously on the roof of the car but she didn’t mind. Not when he was so nice. They were going to go see that new mobster movie, the Godfather. 

They ate dinner at a little Italian place, to keep it in-theme. “I hope you like it,” he said. “This is one of my favorite spots that’s not in Staten Island.”

“I’m glad you didn’t drag me out there,” she replied. “They don’t really like me out there.” That was the nicest way she could put it. 

“I don’t see how,” he replied. There was little inflection in his tone but everything felt sincere, not like those aggressive man-children who thought sarcasm was a way of life. 

She observed how he stiffened when people looked at his arm, and pitying looks on their faces. “Thank you for your service,” a waiter said with emphasis, and touching his shoulder. Adrik frowned but said nothing until she left. 

“I hate when they say that.”

“Mmm?” she said, twirling her carbonara on her fork. “Why?” You don’t like all their endless gratitude and adoration?”

His mouth quirked up, and he took a bite of his chicken parmesan. “What’s their to adore? The whole thing is ridiculous. I would have ran off if it weren’t for my family. They’re Soviet scientists who immigrated here. You can imagine, it’s not smooth sailing.”

Everything suddenly made sense. Why he was respectful. Why he was less judgy, and didn’t treat her as weirdly. It wasn’t the same but on some level, he understood what it was like to have people be suspicious. After all, commies were the bad guys in this whole mess. “What do you wish people would say?”

“I’m working on stopping this stupid war, and I have a new prosthetic for you,” he said with a wry smile. “If I had a little more balance, then I could dance with you.”

That’s when Leoni knew he was an absolute keeper.


End file.
